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Is your head overflowing with ideas? Do you have SO many things you want to do in your business? I've been there and that's why today I'm sharing 8 questions you can use to help you prioritise which activities and offers to focus on next.

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One of the most common questions I get is, “what do I do next?” and “how do I prioritise?”.

So in this episode, I’m sharing the questions that have helped me (and my clients) prioritise and launch their next big ideas.

1: What am I most excited about?

There's a reason why we're starting with this one. You started your business for a reason. You had that spark in you, that passion. So that's really where we want to start.

You need a reason that will move you, and having this reason will allow you to make decisions without even thinking about it. This is what we call discovering your passion.

You don't just find your passion, it finds you, and it comes from a combination of events and interests that you have that make it a discoverable thing in the first place.

So I have some questions for you that I really want you to think about…

What do you want to be doing? Think about this from a place of desire and where you want to be. You have the power to change things if you’re working on things in business that aren’t inspiring you.
What lights you up the most?
What do you love to do?
What do people love about you?
What did they say that you are good at?

If these are things that you are already doing, that's great. But if you're not, what is missing? And how are you going to fill that gap?

An ‘ideal day’ exercise can be a great way to get clear on this too.

We start with this question because your excitement will drive everything else. You can use this for ideas for products and services that you want to launch. But you can also use this question to analyse your current platforms as well. So, for example, if TikTok is exciting you more than Instagram right now, were should you be spending more of your time? Where are you going to show up more powerfully? You're going to show up more powerfully by following the excitement.

2: What will bring in the most money over time?

One of my biggest values in business is impact over income. We started with impact in the previous question. Now we're going to move on to income.

When you look at your ideas, what's going to bring in the most money? Where is the potential for that income?

Now I don't want you to overthink this too much. A great example of this is monthly recurring revenue – any ideas for products or offers that you have that will bring in monthly recurring revenue should go at the top of the list.

We’re also considering it over time because that might not necessarily be a new offer that brings in the most money immediately. For example, choosing between launching a six-month programme or a one-off workshop, I’d choose the programme first.

This is a process I went through with the Busy to Boss Academy in 2020. When the pandemic first hit, I shelved the idea and thought of launching some workshops instead. But then I went through this system and I realised, over time, the Academy was going to bring in more income.

If you're a product-based business, things to think about with this include looking back at your best sellers. Do you notice any patterns?

If you're still struggling to answer this question, I want you to think about the feelings that you want to associate with money. Do you want to feel excitement? Do you want to feel secure? Do you want to feel at ease? Do you want to feel joy? Do you want to feel comfortable? Then ask: what offers in your business will give you that? The answer to this question really starts to tell us what needs to change and where you need to put your focus.

3: What aligns most with my values?

I love this question. This is so so important. What are your values in your life and your business? And which ideas on your list or existing things in your current business support those values?

For example, for me now, some of my biggest values are having a life-first business model, freedom and flexibility. If I said tomorrow, I want to go and get 10 new one-on-one clients that wouldn't align with my values.

If it's starting to feel like a lot needs to change, that is okay. I don't want you to overthink it, we're gonna get to it. But for now, you're just writing down answers to each of these questions based on the list of ideas that you have. And then at the end, we'll analyse all of them.

4: What does my audience need or want the most?

This is where the importance of knowing your ideal customer and constantly being tapped into them comes in. If you don't know the answer to this question, I don't want you to guess. Instead, get your market research hat on and ask them.

Now, more than ever is the absolute best time to be doing market research.

I recommend making the results an ever-updating Google doc, where you’re adding in responses from clients or followers.

Another thing to consider is looking at what they want versus what they need. It’s not always the same thing. For example, a client of mine is doing a workshop to prepare her retail clients for Christmas. Lots of people in her audience said they needed more sales and felt stressed. But she knows what they actually need is mindset support, skills to analyse previous sales and schedule management. But if she promoted it that way, she probably wouldn't get the sales that she wanted.

That's why it's so important to know the surface level of what people are saying they need and want, but then actually go one step deeper and figure out what impact that has on their life.

5: What do I need to make this happen?

This is all about your resources regarding time, money, and energy. This is where things start to get really interesting because you might have an amazing idea that supports all of these questions so far, you're excited, it's going to bring in money, it aligns with your values, It's what your audience needs and wants. But actually, you might realise you have to go through hell and back to make it happen.

If it’s something you really want to do, but you realise you need a lot of support or extra time to make it happen then ask how you can make it simple. How can you make it easy?

I want you to look at things like time, money, emotional energy, capacity, your lifestyle, and your current business model.

The next few questions support this…

6: How many hours do I want to work?

With this, I really want to touch on the fact that wanting to work is so different from feeling like you have to. You don’t need to feel guilty if you want to work on a weekend because you’re excited about an idea. That’s a world away from feeling like you need to work because people are telling you to.

As long as you've got a handle on things, you know your limits, and you set boundaries, it’s fine. For example, at the weekend, I do no work. So when I came back from maternity leave last summer, I knew that my answer to this question had changed. I knew that I wanted to cut my hours to spend more time with Jacob. But I also didn't want to sacrifice my income. And I didn't think that it was possible until now a year later where I've proved that you can ‘work less and earn more’. But it all starts with your belief that it's possible.

7: What are my priorities outside of my business?

So around here, we're very much a big believer in the life-first business model. We are all about building a business that supports our life. So what are your other priorities? Do you want to prioritise your morning routine? Do you want to prioritise time with your family? Do you want to prioritise going for a run every day? Do you want to prioritise any hobbies that you have? What does that look like for you?

Now the answers that you've given to previous questions, you'll now start to see some patterns emerge. Business can become our identity, but you are still you without your business. So what gives you joy outside that? What’s a priority when you’re not working?

8: What kind of structure would support this?

Your priorities outside of work come as highly, if not even higher, than your business priorities. Trust me, even if you don't think that that's the case right now. I promise it can work in harmony.

So really a kind of a sub-question for this: is your current business model supporting your priorities or not?

Look over your ideas and see what’s going to fit in and align.

And remember, we're not just thinking from a place of circumstance, we're thinking from a place of where we want to be. It's so important to act from a place of desire.